Barkov Is Out Again, and Week One Proves Nothing

Every team has now played at least once: 31 games in five nights. When Faber went down I promised a recap once all 32 teams had played, so here it is. As with Faber, though, the biggest story of the week is an injury: Aleksander Barkov is hurt again.

What happened to Barkov

It happened on Thursday in San Jose, midway through the second period of Florida's 4-3 overtime loss. Barkov was battling Darnell Nurse for the puck along the boards when he fell awkwardly, his left leg twisted at an unnatural angle. He played 9:15 that night. On Saturday the Panthers put him on long-term injured reserve.

LTIR means at least 10 games and 24 days. Past that, nobody knows yet. Barkov sees the team's doctors on Monday. "We know it's going to be 10 (games) anyway," coach Paul Maurice said. "We'll see what they say Monday. ... I'm not the doctor here."

Barkov missed all of last season after tearing ligaments in his right knee. This time it's the other leg, and he was only two games into his comeback, with no points yet. ESPN's Emily Kaplan reports some optimism that it isn't season ending. Maurice's line on that: "We don't even know the extent of it yet, so it doesn't feel anything like last year."

What Florida does without him

Lars Eller moves up to centre the top line between Brady Tkachuk and Sam Reinhart. The Panthers called up Sam Lafferty and defenceman Alexander Petrovic from Charlotte. Brad Marchand is close to his first game after offseason surgery, and Gustav Forsling, who missed the San Jose game with an upper-body injury, is a game-time decision tonight at Anaheim (8 p.m.).

For fantasy, Eller is the name. He won't score like Barkov, but a centre between Tkachuk and Reinhart gets chances he hasn't had in years. Hold Reinhart and both Tkachuks; their jobs don't change. If you drafted Barkov, he's on your bench for at least 10 games, and a reserve slot is the place for him.

What this does to my Florida pick

Florida second in the Atlantic was the biggest bet in my division picks, and it rested on a healthy Barkov. I'm still not changing the pick today. We don't know whether this is three weeks or three months, and Monday's exam will tell us far more than I can guess now. If it turns out to be months, Florida comes down.

Why the standings don't count yet

Every team has played one, two or three games. That's under 4% of an 82-game season. Last year's Atlantic winner is the best warning: Buffalo started 11-14-4 and still won the division. Checking my 32 picks against three games would be reading tea leaves, so I'll skip it. Barkov is the only part of week one that touches them.

A few early results still stand out:

• Pittsburgh is 2-0 with 13 goals. They won 7-0 in Philadelphia behind an Arturs Silovs shutout, then beat Montreal 6-5 in overtime. I have them sixth.
• San Jose is 2-0, both in overtime, over Florida and Los Angeles. Will Smith had two goals against the Panthers.
• The Rangers are 2-1. They lost 3-0 in Boston, then won 5-1 against Tampa and 2-0 in Detroit, where Dylan Garand made 22 saves for his first NHL shutout. The night before, Igor Shesterkin scored into an empty net.
• Dallas has one goal in two games (0-4 against St. Louis, 1-2 in Nashville).
• Chicago is 0-3 and has allowed 15 goals, all on the road, with Bedard still out.
• Minnesota is 2-0 without Faber, with two goals against in two games.

Results this early are close to coin flips: 8 of the 31 games went to overtime. Any of these records could be reversed by Halloween.

Edmonton and Vancouver, twice

The best two games of the week were the same matchup. Vancouver won 6-5 in overtime in Edmonton on opening night, and two nights later Edmonton won 9-7 in Vancouver, for 27 goals in two games.

Connor McDavid leads the league with 9 points in three games. Evan Bouchard has 4 goals, more than anyone in the league, and he's a defenceman. For Vancouver, Paul Cotter has 3 goals and 5 points, Elias Pettersson has 5 points, and Marco Rossi has 3 goals. Neither team will keep defending or goaltending like this, so I wouldn't change anyone's value over two wild games.

What to do with this

Do one thing this week: move Barkov to your reserve and see what Monday's diagnosis says. If your wire is open, Eller is the one centre whose job changed. Everything else from week one is a sample of three games or fewer.

Earlier this week: Brock Faber is out.